Agony of the Da' Feet — Time to Pack the Bags Mr. Speaker

What a Pack of Gloomy Faces: No Need to Wonder Why

Highlights from this story:  Another poll shows that the Republican Party’s brand took a big hit from the 16-day government shutdown that just came to an end.

A majority of Americans now say it’s “bad for the country” that Republicans control the House of Representatives, the first time since 2010 (new CNN/ORC International poll) that was just released.

Some 54% said the GOP-controlled House is bad for the country while only 38% said it was a good thing. Just a year ago, the same poll showed a slight majority believed it was good that Republicans had control of the House – and 43% said it was bad.

This latest poll, conducted after the shutdown ended, also found that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) should lose his job running the House.

While the public may be eager to see someone new hold the speaker’s gavel, the conservative lawmakers who have the power to oust him have so far appeared unwilling.

At the same time, Congressional approval ratings remained low in the CNN/ORC poll, as they do in every poll, but improved to 12% from a low of 10% in September.

Wow – what an improvement – a whole 2 percentage points.  But, it is time for a huge change. After all, Mr. Boehner is 2nd in line for the Presidency. Think hard about that.